Thursday, December 27th, 2007
Cold weather fishing agrees with local man
By Janie Southard
Photo by Janie Southard/The Daily Standard
It was a good day for fishing unless you're a fish. Gene Gibboney, an 86-year-old St. Marys resident, not only enjoyed Monday's sunny afternoon but he caught a 16-inch rainbow trout within 15 minutes of setting up his fishing site. He said he moved to St. Marys from New Bremen because it's closer to his favorite fishing spot, the East Bank pond. The trout were stocked this year by the Ohio Division of Wildlife.
ST. MARYS - What's in a fish tale? A couple photo ops if you're Gene Gibboney, an 86-year-old fisherman and former New Bremenite.
It's his favorite pasttime, Gibboney tells the newspaper Wednesday afternoon as he sits on a green folding chair fishing at the East Bank pond. In fact, it's such a favorite that he moved to St. Marys a few years ago to be nearer his preferred hobby.
And, he's pretty good at it.
"This is the second time a lady with a camera wanted to take my picture with a big fish," he proudly says.
As he poses with his 16-inch rainbow trout that he caught during the first 15 minutes at the pond Wednesday, he tells the story of the first lady with a camera.
A few years ago, Gibboney was fishing in the boat channel across from the East Bank pond when he caught a "great big bass."
"Well, I don't keep the fish I catch. My fun is in the catching. So, that day a fellow and his wife were sitting not too far from me and he asked what kind of fish I had caught and what I was going to do with it," Gibboney recalls.
When he told them he'd probably throw it back in, the fellow asked to have it. The Ferguson Construction retiree gladly gave his fish away.
"Long story short, a lady came up with a camera and wanted to take a picture of the big fish. That fellow insisted I take the fish back for the picture" Gibboney continues.
Several weeks later a friend told Gibboney to get the Grand Lake tourist booklet put out by the local convention and visitors bureau.
"She told me I'd like what I saw. And, I guess I did because there was me inside with my big fish, and we were in living color," he says.
